I just got back from my visit to San Fran and have to say my journey to Forbidden Island was a highlight of my trip. I dragged a buddy of mine over to Berkeley for the day and then on to Alameda. Another friend met us there. Let me say first that the friend who lives in San Fran was so knocked out by the place that he started hounding me about where to buy Tiki things..

I really enjoyed the "grand tour" Martin gave us and the GREAT service we received from everyone there. Even got to experience my first and only earthquake--not a drink--the real thing. I'm not sure if Martin can make that happen for everyone though.

I can't say enough about the place. We hit another place in Oakland (Kona Club)that looked really awesome but lacked the "soul" when put up against Forbidden Island.

A couple of months ago I had a chance to visit Forbidden Island which was just superb. Martin was kind enough to let me interview him for my Podcast (http://soused.thepodcastnetwork.com/2008/03/16/soused-podcast-011-martin-cate-at-forbidden-island-tiki-lounge/).

The service at Forbidden Island is excellent, and the decor is beyond reproach. Hats off to Martin and the FI crew!

Is there a topic on all the positive press that Forbidden Island has received? Maybe there should be. It would be several pages! Well, here's another one that was in San Francisco's 7x7 Magazine. Congrats to the 3 M's!

"Located in the heart of Alameda’s historic Bay Station Shopping District, Forbidden Island features a wide array of classic and contemporary gourmet cocktails, served in an exotic & fun tropical atmosphere."

Congratulations to all who made Forbidden Island so good. It's number one in my book.

We visited the Forbidden Island for the 2nd time just over a week ago. It was afternoon & a surf band was playing. In fact the place got crowded more so than our first visit late last year. Great decor & vibe to the place. We DID notice that they were now using mixes with the drinks & this is possibly one reason Martin is no longer working there. Still a GREAT place Thortiki

On 2009-04-13 18:28, Thortiki wrote:We DID notice that they were now using mixes with the drinks

Are you sure? They use the quik-pour bottles (that most other place have pre-mixes in) for all of their fresh juices. Perhaps that's what you saw?
_________________"If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."-Catherine Aird

My wife and I were on vacation in SF this past weekend. We dragged a couple of friends out to the east bay from the Richmond neighborhood for a relaxing Sunday afternoon at FI and we were not disappointed in any way by our experience - in fact, we were blown away (I think our friends will be making even more trips across the bay to visit FI).

First - Mike held one of the very cool bowls for me - it was to be a gift from my wife for our anniversary. HUGE thanks for that!

Even at 4ish pm on a Sunday afternoon - with some of the most perfect weather our friends remember in SF in April ever outside - there were several people outside and even more inside.

I LOVED the feel of FI as soon as I walked in the door. I felt like I was home. A quick glance behind the bar made my mouth water - so much rum... so little time. We found a booth and settled in for what we hoped would be a fun hour or two.

I let our bartender know that we had a bowl on hold for us. Our bartender was AWESOME! She was friendly and had a lot of great suggestions. She even took some pictures of our group with my camera.

We started off with the Mystery Bowl and it was perfect. I did not taste any "standard mix" in any of the drinks - everything tasted like fresh juices. I could spend the rest of my life drinking at this bar!

The girls moved on to sodas and juices - Patty was driving. Ken and I went for the signature Forbidden Island drink - had to get the mug! My expectations were again blown away!

I finished off my first visit to FI with the Hurricane. WOW! Have I gushed enough about FI yet?

This was the perfect end to our vacation!

I am already thinking about my next trip to the area - and of course another trip to FI.